Once more in the ring (my punches sing)
by yesiamanowl
Summary: After the Dark One possesses and takes away Emma, Hook turns to something that he hasn't done since he was in the Navy in order to cope with this new situation (fixed)


_Thump! Thud! Thud! Crack!_ He knew his ship wasn't going to take much more of a beating before the rest of it fell around him. He had already broken multiple of the rope cleats, several doors lay in pieces at the bottom of the hold and his hand and stump had most certainly seen better days. He wanted to stop; dear god he wanted to stop; but the anger inside him that came from being no closer to Emma than the day before sometimes made _his_ head rear again and he knew that he wouldn't be able to stop hitting the first thing he saw until his knuckles bled and something was broken. On this night he had taken to beating the shit out of the previous keel after that last one had been wrecked somewhere along the line from Blackbeard. He could feel the hot trail of blood coming down his fingers and his hands from the repeated punches, and was almost glad for the fact that he had no sensation in the flat of his stump for he just _knew_ that it would have been pretty painful for the shear force he had thrown it at the wood.

"You know, had you not gone into piracy you would have made a hell of a boxer" an unknown voice called from the dock, a voice that Killian had never heard around Storybrooke before. He was tall- close to 6'5 above Killian's 5'11, and a frame that matched Liam's in its bulk. He couldn't see his face, but in the darkness he could see two piercing green eyes staring straight at him.

"Just because I'm a pirate doesn't mean I don't know how to box. Before all this it was something I did with… Never mind. Why are you telling me this exactly?" He had come so close to saying his name. _Liam_. He had been the one who had encouraged him to learn boxing as a downtime sport in the Navy, knowing full well that the beginning he would have a few bruises and broken bones only to become one of the navy's best boxers. He could still hear the way the other men would cheer him on onto another victory. How good it made him feel as all the stressors from the day just bled out of his body with each punch, how it made him forget, even for a short time.

"Well… I know of a little place where boxers can go train, occasionally fight. It would save you from beating your ship into a state from which it could never be fixed." This stranger did have a point- at this rate I would have no ship or home left by the time we found Emma, and it would most certainly help deal with all the stress and anger placed by Emma's sacrifice.

"Where would this ' _little place'_ be exactly? I have never seen any signs for such a thing since I have arrived here; neither in the first curse or the second" The mystery man finally brought down his hood, revealing a long face with reddish hair and rounded features, all apart from his eyes. His lips curled into a small and tight smile, no teeth being bared in the action.

"I'm glad you asked, Hook; it's underneath the school gymnasium- and don't be fooled- it's got a full arena and training area hidden beneath its surface. More a wonder why there of all places really. Probably to keep it out of the way from the rest of Storybrooke, but that doesn't stop the rest of us from using it"

"It's Jones. So underneath the school you say? Where is the entrance?" He was tired of telling people to call him by his actual name, although some still called him by his dreadful moniker.

"Glad you asked- we've had our eyes on recruiting you to the boxing squad ever since we talked to your crew at the rabbit hole. I'm heading over there now if you're not all boxed out for tonight" Following this unknown man was possibly one of the best things that Killian had done in the two months that Emma had been gone, and in some respects, it only got better.

Twisting and contorting, he spun expertly around the ring, out manoeuvring his opponent of the night and with one final punch to the jaw- a knock-out blow and the fight was won. The dark man who had approached Killian in the first place had turned out to be Storybrooke's reigning champion in the ring, and the others within the small but strong community of boxers had all welcomed the reformed pirate with open arms; inviting him to drinks on Sundays when the club was closed, and challenging him to fights when it was open.

The hidden boxing scene had been one of the only things that had kept Killian going throughout the research process of discovering Emma's location and how to free her and everyone else from the Dark curse. Recently the group had been discovering more and more dead ends on what used to be their strongest leads. This had only lead to later nights at the club, more fights and more worn out punch bags. Occasionally Storybrooke's champion would stroll through and show the amateurs that they would never be at his level- but never had he even challenged Killian. Some said it was because he feared that a pirate would take his crown, others believed that it was just him wanting to keep hold of his life. Either way no one ever said his name. He was only ever called by his ring name; the eagle.

The eagle wasn't the only one with a separate name; everyone who fought in the championships had another name- but it was always said with their real name. Killian had multiple names, depending on the speakers for the night, sometimes it would be the captain, and others by his moniker. But every once in a while, he was simply called the darkness. These names never really meant too much to him, his mind too focused on the fight, and trying to forget even for a short while all the shit that was going down in Storybrooke at the time. Most of his opponents usually came out of the fight with a broken rib or too- and that was when the good doctor Whale would stop commentating and do his day job for those in the ring.

Killian knew that soon they would be leaving to go to either Camelot or back to the Enchanted Forest, so he had made sure that tonight he would fight thrice, and with one more fight to go, he could feel that things would be much better once he was finished for the night, that he would be able to go through the journey without beating anything up too badly.

His usual opponents (Little John, Leroy and Tiny) were all sitting out with broken ribs from the fights last week, cheering him on against those who had been part of the professional team within the first curse, and not once had anyone other than their tiny group beaten any one of them. Until Jones showed up and proved everyone wrong again and again and again. He could feel each beat of sweat, each piece of his leather jacket which he wore as his robe as it swayed against his tall form. His last match was supposedly with a man called ' _the punisher'_ although as Leroy had joked with him earlier, it was the punisher who was going to be punished.

Through the doors he could hear the beginning of the anthem which had quickly been dubbed as his own; the danger zone from a film called Top Gun- one which everyone had sat down and watched whilst the dwarves were fixing the ring after a rather heated fight which ended up in the post being broken. His mind was gracefully calm as he walked in through to the ring, each fight drawing him further and further into a relaxed state. Taking a deep breath in and out, he climbed back into the ring, and let the atmosphere take his mind for another short while.

The trip had gone horrifically, and everyone near him as he came back into the club could see it for a while off. His punches were more powerful, more angry than usual, and they just stood back and let him be. When they had taken Emma to Camelot they were hoping for at least some form of an answer on how to cure the dark curse- instead they were met with even more questions and no form of freeing Emma from the Dark Curse. He had seen Merlin pull aside David as Arthur walked over to have a little chat with the only pirate he had ever befriended. Killian couldn't help the blind rage that followed him after that. And it was also why he was using a punch bag rather than a usual person; for that person wouldn't be standing and would possibly be dead by the time he had finished. Whale had let him punch the living daylights out of the bag for an hour before he offered him a space in the ring against Black Wing again. An offer which Killian couldn't help but accept after everything that had just happened. Little did he realise that the eagle was watching him fight- and before they all left, the date was set. The captain would finally fight the eagle, and no one could hold in their excitement.

After destroying two punch bags and knocking out Black Wing, Killian still had anger running through his veins, but his exhaustion was getting closer and if he wasn't careful he would end up collapsing in the middle the boxing club.

After that it was blurry, for all he knew was one minute he was packing up his stuff, and the next he was on the floor surrounded by three dwarves, Dr Whale, Black Wing and the Punisher. Seems he had just worn himself out both emotionally and physically and it finally took effect. Despite the fact that Killian had just broken three of his ribs Black Wing invited him to crash on his sofa whilst he recovered- when Victor said that Killian shouldn't do anything for a good 48 he put up a fight and said he wouldn't be able to do that without the charming clan noticing that he was missing. Although Whale said he would deal with them and that he should rest up and get himself sorted first for a change.

Turns out Whale had a genuine reason for his disappearance and it was something Killian hadn't noticed; a cut down his back which under his leathers wouldn't have been noticeable and so he used that time to stitch him up and Black Wing made sure he ate and slept. But that didn't stop them all from walking around him like a ticking time bomb, just waiting to go off at any given moment.

Three days later he returned to town and no one had even noticed that he was gone; that night he spent five hours at the boxing club.

Two months after they had brought Emma back to Storybrooke and she was still the dark one- and she was only getting darker and darker the longer she stayed as she was. Killian was frequenting the boxing club more and more, and he was surprised by the fact that no-one had noticed that he was disappearing pretty much every night and he was no longer sleeping at Granny's or his ship.

If he hadn't taken the eagles offer to join them at the boxing club he was sure that both his ship and the rest of the town would have been destroyed by his anger. Fortunately when he wasn't trying to endlessly research the Dark One and deal with all the problems that she was raising in town, he still had the fight with the eagle to get ready for, so he had an excuse to train each night at the club and get rid of his anger.

Of course Emma realised that he had found some way to get rid of his anger and frustration and immediately thought that he was having an affair with another woman, but after confirming that he wasn't she gave up trying to guess, and still hadn't bothered trying to follow him. Belle had started to notice that he wasn't sleeping at the places they all knew of, so he told her that he had been staying with someone he knew in town and that she shouldn't worry- or tell.

He had one more week to get through before the match would happen, and all of Storybrooke would know of his secret second (third?) life in Storybrooke, for the channel that broadcasted in Storybrooke had agreed to broadcast their most anticipated match. Something that as per usual in Storybrooke those watching at home wouldn't know about it until they turned on the magic boxes in their living rooms for the news and instead would end up finding the match with him in it.

Only seven more days to survive the craziness of the life that came to him in this small town

Finally the day arrived, and everyone in the boxing club had all been trying to help him prepare for the match. Leroy and the dwarves had convinced one of the tailors they knew into creating him a proper boxing robe, whilst Black wing had him a new glove and a specialised cover for his stump for when he was fighting. Whale had given him some new boxing shorts and trainers for the ring whilst the Punisher decided just to tell him that if he won the guys had a surprise in store for him.

David, Snow and Henry had given him an odd look when he said he had somewhere to be tonight and that they would see him later, and on the other side of the diner Whale gave him a conspiratorial nod as he went to make final preparations, as were other boxers, some spectators and the commentators.

He knew that he would go out first before the Eagle, be introduced and what not and then the rest of the formalities would happen and more than likely one of them would end up with something broken.

"Welcome Storybrooke to the first public boxing match since the second curse brought us all back to this realm and boy do we have a good fight for you tonight" Whale started his commentary first, the cue for Killian to

"Oh yes we do Sidney for tonight we have our own unbeaten champion of the ring against possibly one of the surprising and talented boxers right here in Storybrooke"

"And surprising is most definitely the word for this fighter for he's not who you'd immediately peg as a boxer, but he is a fighter, so without further ado let's bring in our first fighter weighing in at 168 pounds, the new guy on this block, welcome to the ring, Killian Jones, or as we like to call him, The Captain!" the music started and he came out to face it, the silken black robe covering his blank expression for the moment, for there was no arrogance, no fear, no happiness, no nothing. He could hear the people calling his name, namely being those who actually enjoyed frequenting the boxing circuit, he could see the cameras set up around the ring to capture the fight. He knew that both Emma and the Charming clan would end up watching him fight- something he hadn't actually wanted to go public but everyone else seemed to have a different opinion on that so he just went along with what they were saying.

Stepping into the ring he allowed Black Wing to take his robe and give him his glove and cover, he allowed Sidney to give him the customary pre-fight questions, none of this because he wanted to; but because they wanted it this way. They wanted it to be as professional as possible despite the fact that he wasn't even in the same league as the Eagle- and for once they didn't see him as a villain. He wasn't a villain, nor a hero, but he was someone they could look up to, he was a fighter and they liked that about him- just as Pan and every other villain had liked that he was a survivor.

He was in the middle of his last question with Glass when the lights went out, leaving only the opposite door slightly illuminated, and Killian knew it was time. Just as he had heard, the Eagle loved to make a grand entrance, and that he certainly did, but even when his towering frame stood above him, he did not feel fear- only anticipation.

As soon as his opponent had gotten rid of his robe the fight was signalled to begin- now **that** was something he could get behind.

 _Punch and dodge, punch, punch, duck, dodge, side-step, circle_ He could hear Liam inside his head whilst fighting for The Eagle certainly put all his skills to the test, and for one he didn't give him quarter for the fact that he was missing a hand like most did (although he was grateful that he wasn't treated like he would break at any moment) but it also gave him a grateful reprieve from his darkest thoughts and fears that had fuelled his return to the ring. In fact it kept him so focused that he almost missed the end of both the first and second round, and both had been draws so everything was counting on this final round. But that wasn't the only thing he had missed; for Emma had teleported herself into the audience to watch him fight, finally understanding where he had been letting out his anger.

He barely heard the bell for the final round, for The Eagle threw a punch as soon as the bell went, and they followed their dance until Killian finally landed a right hook on him and watched as he fell to the floor- but he found no solace in his victory, for the way his opponent reminded him too much of the way his brother died in his arms on both occasions, and only when he saw him sit up and the referee grabbed his good wrist and thrust it into the air as a sign of victory, and only then did he **feel** again, only then did he hear the crowd calling his name, see his men cheering for him along with the dwarves and the merry men, only then did he hear Whale and Sidney celebrating in the commentators box, he could take in everything until he saw her.

Her white hair tucked into its meticulous bun, hiding in the shadows, watching from a distance, a strange expression on her face, somewhere between pride and disgust, but she disappeared from view when The Eagle came to congratulate him for claiming his old title- turns out his name was Matt Murdock, and seeing as he had lost his title of unbeaten champion that Killian should call him by his real name.

Just as Black Wing and the other boxers had promised for winning the fight they gave him a set of keys for what looked to be a house- and they promptly took him there for after match celebrations which went well on into the morning- leaving them all with magnificent hangovers. Killian fell asleep quickly and happily for the first time since his heart had nearly been crushed by the crocodile, and when he woke, he still had a smile on his face.

When he walked into the library the following morning he certainly hadn't expected for everyone to already be there waiting for him seeing as he was always the first one into the library of a morning.

"Got something you want to tell us **Captain** Guyliner?" Regina exclaimed from the right hand side of the group, an expectant Henry standing on one side and Robin and Rowland on the other. Belle and Rumpelstiltskin stood on the opposite side (turns out he had awoken just an hour before the fight started) and the Charming's in the middle.

"Which bit, the fact that I have been living another life to deal with everything that had been happening with this whole mess or that I had been researching without you?"

"I was meaning the fact that you had found the very answer to what we had been looking for without telling us. The fact that you have found a way to deal with you anger was just a surprise on the side"

A cough to his right drew his attention to the Charming's, who had gathered everything for the spell he had discovered.

"You can explain the whole 'I'm going to go boxing and fighting without telling anyone later' but for now, we have a Dark One to free"


End file.
